Transverse laser cooling of a thermal atomic beam of dysprosium

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A thermal atomic beam of dysprosium (Dy) atoms is cooled using the 4f¹⁰6s² (J=8) → 4f¹⁰6s6p (J=9) transition at 421 nm. The cooling is done via a standing light wave orthogonal to the atomic beam. Efficient transverse cooling to the Doppler limit is demonstrated for all observable isotopes of dysprosium. Branching ratios to metastable states are demonstrated to be <5×10⁻⁴. A scheme for enhancement of the nonzero-nuclear-spin-isotope cooling, as well as a method for direct identification of possible trap states, is proposed.